Federal Jury Convicts Weleetka Resident Of Murder

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced today that Michael Wayne Lambert, age 56, of Weleetka, Oklahoma, was found guilty by a federal jury of charges relating to an Okfuskee County murder in 2024.

The federal jury returned a guilty verdict on three charges: one count of Murder in Indian Country, punishable by life imprisonment and a $250,000.00 fine; one count of Use, Carry, Brandish and Discharge of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence, punishable by up to ten years imprisonment and a $250,000.00 fine; and one count of Causing the Death of a Person in the Course of a Violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), punishable by up to life imprisonment and a $250,000.00 fine.

The jury trial began with testimony on September 8, 2025, and concluded on September 11, 2025, with the guilty verdicts.

During the trial, the United States presented evidence that on June 30, 2024, Lambert unlawfully killed the victim with premeditation and malice aforethought. At trial, the Government presented evidence that Lambert shot the victim multiple times on the stairs of an Okemah apartment complex, then fled the scene. The crime occurred in Okfuskee County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation of Oklahoma, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The guilty verdicts were the result of investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Okemah Police Department, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the trial in Muskogee and ordered the completion of a presentence report. The sentencing will be scheduled following completion of the report. Lambert was remanded into the custody of the United States Marshals until sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lewis M. Reagan and Ryan Conway represented the United States.